Mirai Desires
by Kotodashi Kyoshi
Summary: Companion piece to I'm Not Him. Looks at how Future Gohan first fell for Bulma, the conversation in which he told her how he felt, and little moments between them leading up to her death. M. Gohan/M. Bulma
1. Prelude

**Author's Note:** Thanks to those of you who read and reviewed 'I'm Not Him'. I talked about making a story on the conversation between Future Gohan and Future Bulma that started their relationship and this is it, in three parts. Prelude, a look into Gohan's mind as to when his fascination with Bulma started. Conversation, the talk in which Gohan let's Bulma know how he feels about her. And Moments, written more like a drabble, will be little moments they had together until the day she was killed.

This all takes place in the future timeline so when I talk about them it's their future selves, that way I don't have to keep writing future.

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing.

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 **Gohan's POV**

I remember when I was a little boy, she was the prettiest thing I had ever seen. She was funny, kind, extremely smart, and always willing to help our family with whatever they needed. She was close friends with my father, though we didn't get to see her that often, but I remember thinking it was a treat when we did.

Fast forward a few years and all of a sudden we're going on an adventure together. But she wasn't just the nice pretty lady anymore, she was even more beautiful than I remember and quickly became my first crush. She was so concerned with how my father was fairing too, something that not even my mother had been that worried about.

On our journey to Namek she told me so many stories of the adventures she'd had with my father when they were younger, that I quickly found myself slightly jealous of him. Mother had always felt a little uneasy about dad and Bulma spending time together in any capacity, but I had always thought that it was perhaps that she was just jealous that Bulma had lots of money and was so beautiful. The more I listened to Bulma talk about him though, the more I started to wonder if maybe there had been something between my dad and her at one point.

With everything that happened on Namek, I quickly forgot any ill feelings towards my dad about the situation and once again he was my idol. The way he fought Frieza was incredible, and I was so glad to hear that he hadn't been killed when we tried to wish him back. So now that there was no longer a threat, and we all were able to relax a little, I dove back into my studies per mother's request. I was a little bummed that she wouldn't let me go visit anyone, namely Bulma, but I knew I would get to see everyone again eventually.

Then dad came back to earth and mom was so happy that she let me ease up on my studies to train with him. Bulma threw a big party for everyone to celebrate his homecoming, and I couldn't be more happier that I would be getting to see everyone again. Then I was hit with my first heartbreak.

It was a little crush, nothing more, something that I would have eventually grown out of right? She was a few years older than my dad, way out of my league, never going to happen. But it didn't change the fact that when we arrived and she came out of the building sporting…well, a large stomach, that it wasn't the biggest shock I'd ever received.

I'd never hated anyone as much as I hated Vegeta in that moment, he'd knocked her up and then taken off to train in space, she explained like it was the most ordinary thing in the world. I stayed silent, because really what was I gonna say? Mom went on a rant about how she couldn't believe Bulma would have stooped so low as to sleep with the Saiyan Prince, and as I brooded silently I noticed that my dad was uncharacteristically quiet.

I snuck a look up at him and he was watching Bulma with hard eyes, and when mother walked away still ranting, he told her quietly that he wanted to speak to her alone. I had never seen my dad look so serious outside of a fight before, and I found myself sneaking off to hear their conversation when they finally had a moment for it.

"How could you have been so careless?" He asked her.

"It just happened once! Apparently that's all it takes with Saiyan sperm. Look it's fine alright? I'll be fine on my own. I don't need him to raise this baby, Goku." She looked anything but fine.

I watched as my dad moved closer to her, and reached out to pull her into a hug. After a few moments she relaxed against him and returned it, crying silently into his shoulder.

"This shouldn't be happening, if things were different…Bulma," dad whispered against her hair.

"Don't, Goku. They aren't different, and that's…well that's ok," she sniffed and pulled back from him.

"You know I'll never let anything bad happen to you, right?" He moved his hands up to rub the tears from her cheeks.

She smiled up at him and nodded, then they returned to the party as if nothing had happened. I had been young then but I was smart enough to know that they obviously loved each other. That my dad must have figured it out too late and neither of them would be dishonorable by acting on their feelings.

Months passed and I started to think that maybe I had dreamt up the whole thing. Looked too much into it, too much imagination for a boy who was barely allowed to leave the house or do anything but study. Then the heart virus hit my dad suddenly and in the blink of an eye we were saying our goodbye's.

She had given birth to Trunks by then, but hadn't brought him with her. Mother was so distraught and was being tended to by grandpa, and Bulma took the opportunity to sneak into his room to say her goodbye. I listened to them finally confess their love for one another before he took his last breath, and my heart shattered as the virus finally claimed my father. Her name the last thing on his lips.

Fast forward six months to when the androids appeared, and just about everyone died at their hands trying to stop them. I left my mother with grandpa up on the mountain and took solace at Capsule Corp. to train using anything and everything that Bulma could produce to make me stronger, strong enough to one day beat the androids.

That was all thirteen years ago. Thirteen years of training, and battling the androids on and off, of barely seeing my mother because I don't want to lead the androids to her, but for some reason they've stayed away from Capsule Corp. Thirteen years of living with the woman who should have been like an aunt to me, but I could never in all that time view her as such, and I expressed vehemently that I was not like a son to her.

Trunks is now to the age where he wants me to train him, where he wants to help me fight the androids. I want to train him, but I need her permission first, even though Trunks would rather not ask because he's sure she'll say no. It should have been like having a little brother, and that's usually what I call him, but in all honesty I'm the only father figure he ever had. Even though I was ten years old when this all started, he's like a son to me.

I woke up this morning with that as the first thought in my head, that Trunks is like my son. With that realization I'm deciding to no longer live in the past, I'm going to tell her how I feel.

After all, in the world we live in now, what else do I have to lose?

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 **Author's note:** Tee Hee! That came out better than I imagined. I hope you liked it too! Review and let me know!


	2. Conversation

**Author's note:** Thanks to the two people that reviewed…I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm used to so many more reviews in my other genre. That I'm not entirely sure what to think here…but I'll finish up cause I can't just let it go unfinished.

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing

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Trunks yawned as he flipped another page in his book. It had been a long day of training, something his mother still wasn't too happy about, and having just finished dinner not too long ago he was exhausted and wanted to sleep. He shut the book and ran back into the kitchen where Gohan was helping Bulma clean everything up.

"I'm headed to bed, mom! Goodnight! Goodnight, Gohan!" He ran over to her and gave her a hug before running back out of the room.

"Goodnight, Trunks! Man I can't believe how big he's gotten. It seems like just yesterday he was only a little boy, now he's all grown up and ready to fight the androids with you, Gohan." Bulma sighed as she cleaned the dishes in the sink.

"I know, reminds me of the times where I trained with my dad, although there weren't exactly any particular threats we were training for," Gohan replied as he brought the rest of the dishes over to the sink.

Bulma sighed, pausing in what she was doing for a moment, and just stared silently into the soapy water. "I miss him so much, Gohan. When your dad was around, you always knew everything was just gonna be ok."

Gohan's eyes darkened for the briefest second before he nodded, "I miss him too, Bulma."

The quiet way he said her name made her turn to look at him, he was staring ahead at the wall, like he was thinking hard about something. Bulma took the moment to really get a good look at him and realized for the first time that he'd become a handsome young man, the spitting image of his father, and for a moment it took her breath away. She felt her cheeks grow warm and turned her head back to the dishes.

"You know, you look just like him, Gohan. It's amazing what those Saiyan traits will do, if it weren't for his hair and eyes Trunks would look exactly like his father too."

Gohan blinked and snapped out of his thoughts at the mention of Vegeta. He stole a glance at her to see that she was smiling sadly down into the sink. He wondered if she was thinking about his father, or about Vegeta.

"Well I guess we're lucky he didn't get Vegeta's attitude, hmm?" He attempted to lighten the way the conversation was headed.

Bulma laughed, and started cleaning the dishes again, "yea I got real lucky with that one. Though he never knew Vegeta, so he never knew just how grumpy he was all the time. He idolizes him, so I try and tell him as much of the truth as I can while leaving out all the bad."

"Can I ask you a question?" Gohan asked, reaching over to put a hand over hers to stop what she was doing.

"Sure, what is it?" She looked at where his hand was covering hers then glanced up at him.

"What did you ever see in him anyways?"

He was met with silence, her eyes had shut and she bowed her head. It seemed like forever when she removed her hands from the sink and wiped them on the apron she was wearing. She moved away from him, and opened up a cabinet pulling out a bottle of liquor and two glasses. She motioned for him to follow her to the kitchen table as she poured the amber colored liquid and handed him a glass.

This had become routine whenever they had serious conversations about the past, though he normally had declined the drink before, she always poured him one anyways. This time he took it, thankful for the extra liquid courage.

"Did your father ever tell you how we met?" She asked suddenly, after taking a sip of her drink.

A flit of annoyance passed through Gohan's mind before he shook his head no and took a sip of his own drink, grimacing at the taste.

"I was searching for the dragon balls, I wanted to make a wish, though at the time I couldn't make up my mind between a lifetime supply of strawberries or the perfect boyfriend. I thought the perfect boyfriend would be a dashing prince that would come in on a white horse and sweep me off my feet. Then we met Yamcha and I thought that maybe he was the perfect boyfriend," she laughed and took another sip of her drink.

"When I offered for Vegeta to stay with us, it was because he had no where else to go. I never imagined it would have ended up the way that it did, and I never spoke about it with anyone. Not even Goku. Vegeta was unrelenting in his mission to surpass Goku, but I believed in him because someone had to. He had such a hard life and everything had been ripped away from him by that tyrant Frieza, he needed someone to believe in him. I thought that maybe if I showed him that someone cared, he might change, for a moment I thought he had. He was harsh and demanding, exhausting, and one day I woke up and realized he had cut me off from my friends, my social life and I hadn't even realized it. I was constantly fixing things or creating new bots for him to train, that I didn't realize I had become his slave. When I pushed back finally it was like…nothing I've ever experienced. He became gentler, softer, and one night we found ourselves tangled up like we were the only two people on Earth that mattered."

She blushed as she finished her drink and poured herself a new one. Gohan had been frowning throughout her story and had already finished his, so he pushed his glass towards her asking silently for a refill as she continued.

"The next day he was so angry, violent almost, it actually scared me for the first time that he had been here. I avoided him because I couldn't bring myself to look at him after the way he acted. I had seen him angry before but he was way beyond angry. Then I found out I was pregnant and he went completely crazy. He tore apart my lab, while cursing obscenities about how it was below him to have an offspring with an earthling, and how he wouldn't acknowledge the baby as his. I told him that I could do it on my own just fine, that I didn't need him. Then he turned on me, and came at me so quickly that I thought he was actually going to hit me. He raised his hand to do it, but for whatever reason stopped. The next day he had taken a ship and was gone, and I never saw him again. He must have ran out of fuel close to the time the androids came, but our paths never crossed again after that, then he died. Looking back at it, I think what attracted me the most was how passionate he was about becoming stronger, about being the Prince of the Saiyan's even though his planet had been destroyed. I had to laugh at it because it seemed fate had finally delivered my prince to me, but I quickly learned that not every prince gets a fairytale ending. But at least I got my Trunks out of it, he's my true prince."

She looked across the table at Gohan and mistook his look of yearning for pity, "it's alright really. I'm an old lady now and I had my chance at love. Hopefully soon you will be able to defeat the androids and then you'll have time to find yourself a nice girl to settle down with. Being in love is extraordinary."

"I've been in love," the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.

She looked at him in surprise and then smiled, "Gohan! When did you have time to find yourself a girlfriend?"

He quickly drank the remains of his glass and leaned forward in his chair, locking eyes with her as he did so. "It isn't too late for you to still be happy, Bulma."

She looked at him curiously and cocked her head to the side, "what do you mean, Gohan?"

He sighed before reaching across the table for her hand, "I've loved exactly one woman my entire life, Bulma. It started out as a crush and I thought I would get over it, especially after I found out that you and my dad had feelings for one another. But I never did grow out of it, in fact it just kept getting stronger all these years."

"Gohan, you don't know what you're saying," she started sputtering.

Gohan got out of his chair and moved to where she sat, leaning down so that they were eye level. "I've seen the way you look at me, Bulma. I know it's because I look so much like my father, I know how much you loved him. But I love you, and you can be happy again, with me. I've helped you raise Trunks, we can be like a family-"

She pulled her hands out of his and pushed her chair back suddenly, walking to the other side of the room while she ran a hand through her hair. "You have no idea what you're talking about, Gohan. You've been cooped up here with us for too long, I'm just the only female you've been around! It isn't right!"

"Whose to say what's right and what isn't anymore?! The world isn't exactly the same place it was thirteen years ago, Bulma. Right and wrong have different meanings now than they did then, and my feelings for you are the same as they've always been. If the androids had never come, maybe things would be different and we could have never been together, but they did and I woke up today realizing that I'll be damned if I go out to fight them again without telling you how I feel."

She was shaking, arms wrapped around herself as she leaned against the wall for support, tears in her eyes. Gohan started walking towards her slowly as he started to speak again.

"I'm not my father, but I love you just the same, Bulma. And I think that maybe deep down you have feelings for me too, even if they are small. It may be because I look so much like him, it probably is because of that, but I'll take it. Because I'm going to make you realize that it's ok to love again and let yourself be loved by someone who truly cares about you."

He had made it to her and lifted her chin to look at him, wiping the tears away from her eyes in the familiar fashion he had watched his father do all those years ago. "I won't push you, but I'm not giving up either," he whispered.

"It isn't fair, to anyone, Gohan. You look so much like him," she whispered back shakily.

"I know, but I promise you this. When you tell me you love me, you're going to love _me_."

Bulma stared up into his eyes, the eyes of his father, and tried her hardest to see Gohan instead of Goku. His words replayed in her head and as they did the image of Goku washed away to a crystal clear image of Gohan. He might have looked just like his father, but the war with the androids had hardened him and made him less soft, less naïve.

They stood there for what seemed like forever, her against the wall, and him with her face in his hands rubbing his thumbs across the pads of her cheeks. Suddenly he leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Goodnight, Bulma."

With that he walked away towards his room, leaving her there in the kitchen confused and hiccuping from a mix of the liquor and her crying.

She put her fingers to her forehead where he had kissed her and curled the other to her chest. She couldn't do this, she couldn't allow him to love her, she was too old and he was so young and had his whole life ahead of him after they got rid of the androids. She just couldn't do it.

And yet, a small part of her yearned for his touch. Because he looked so much like Goku, it was like being able to finally be with the only man she had ever loved, but that wasn't fair to Gohan. His words replayed in her head again, it was as if he was confident that she would love him eventually. But she didn't want to ruin his life like that, eventually he would be able to have a life of his own, and he would resent her. She couldn't possibly go through the heartbreak again, she'd already lost so much.

"Mom?" Trunks' sleepy voice startled her out of her thoughts.

"Yea, kid? What's up? I thought you went to bed?" She quickly wiped the remaining tears off her face and stood up straight.

"I had a bad dream, are you ok? Why are you crying?"

"Oh it's nothing, hon. What was your dream about?" She asked, moving to put away the bottle from the table and finish cleaning the dishes.

"Just that the androids came here and attacked us and killed us all," he said, pulling out a chair at the table.

"Well that's morbid, dear. Don't you worry about that, we've survived this long. I think it will all be ok," the cheeriness of her own voice surprised her.

"Because Gohan will always be here to protect us right?"

She paused with her hands in the soapy water again, "that's right, son. Gohan will always be around to save the day."

Trunks smiled and got up to hug his mother then moved to start helping her. Neither of them noticed Gohan leaning against the wall in the hall, listening to their conversation.

"That's right, I will always be around to save you two from harm," he whispered softly as he turned to walk back to his room.

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 **Author's Note:** Well I hope you liked the second installment. There will be one more chapter to this and then I think I may possibly add a chapter to I'm Not Him. Someone mentioned it would be nice to see what happens a few weeks after the visit.


	3. Moments

**Author's Note:** This is the last part to this story, then I'll add a follow up chapter to I'm Not Him. This story is done in moments, every line break is another moment between Gohan and Bulma over the course of the next year.

I listened to **Atlas: Heart by Sleeping At Last** on repeat while I wrote this chapter and I just can't imagine reading it without listening to the song at the same time. The lyrics and the melody are just perfect for everything I was trying to convey in this. It's worth it, I promise.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own any of it

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Gohan walked into the lab where Bulma was working on the time machine, smiling as he watched her tinker with the same thing she'd been working on when he and Trunks had gone into the gravity machine to train that morning.

"Do you need some help?" He asked, leaning against the doorway.

She let out a startled yelp and turned to look at him, "don't scare me like that! I'm old, you're gonna give me a heart attack."

Gohan rolled his eyes at her. It had been two weeks since their late night conversation in the kitchen. She'd done her best to avoid him but well, he lived there. She'd also done her best to remind him at every turn that she was an old lady, which he had of course ignored.

She went back to what she was working on and he stayed against the doorway, watching her for a few minutes before she finally broke the silence. "How was training today?"

Gohan smiled, "he's doing really well. I think he's already close to breaking through to becoming a Super Saiyan."

She smiled as she finished tightening a bolt, "that's my boy. Takes after his father."

Gohan smirked, "takes after me. After all, I was only a few years younger than him when I transformed."

Bulma laughed and turned to look at him, "someone is cocky."

"I prefer to think of it as confident," his voice was firm and teasing.

Her laughter died down into a long silence that settled between them. They sat there, staring at each other for what seemed like forever, until Bulma finally broke the silence again. "Gohan-"

"Save it," he cut her off. "I told you I wasn't giving up."

She frowned and put her hands on her hips, which was slightly awkward for her since she was still sitting on the floor. "Young man you stop this nonsense this instant!"

"Woah, Gohan, moms really mad at you. What did you do?" Trunks' voice came from behind Gohan.

Bulma blanched and blushed while Gohan just smirked. "I didn't do anything, she's just mad that she isn't getting her way," he said as he turned to walk away.

Trunks just looked from Gohan's retreating back to his mothers red face with a shocked expression. He shook his head while walking away, "grown ups are weird."

* * *

Bulma jumped as the thunder boomed again. It had been storming all night and she couldn't sleep, she had always hated thunderstorms. She got out of bed and wrapped her robe around her, heading downstairs to make herself a cup of tea.

She jumped again when a clap of thunder sounded loudly over the house as she walked down the stairs. She covered her mouth to keep her whimpers silent as she passed Trunks' room and checked in on him. He, of course, was sleeping hard as a rock and hadn't been bothered at all.

When she made it to the kitchen she noticed that the light was already on, she tried to remember if perhaps she had left it on but then she heard noises, so it was safe to assume that Gohan was awake as well. She hesitated a moment, wondering if perhaps she should just go back to her room, but her feet seemed to have a mind of their own as she kept walking.

He looked up as she entered, smiling when he saw her. She froze when she realized he was only wearing a pair of pajama pants and nothing else. She had to tell herself to calm down as she sat at the table across from him.

"Trouble sleeping?" He asked her, pouring her a cup of tea from the pot he had made.

"I hate thunderstorms," she said in a small voice, taking a large gulp of her tea.

"I know, it's why I made moms special tea. It'll help you sleep," he said, watching as she finished her cup.

"You should go see her soon. It's been forever since you visited her, I'm sure she would really appreciate it," she folded her arms on the table and rested her chin on them. She already felt the effect of the tea warming through her body, thunderstorm forgotten as she gazed tiredly across the table at Gohan. She vaguely realized that there had only been one cup at the table and he had poured it for her.

"Yea, you're probably right," he mused as he shut the book he had been reading. By the time he looked back at her she was already falling asleep. He smiled softly and got out of his chair, scooping her up in his arms and walking her back up to her room.

He laid her gently down in her bed and pulled up the covers. A piece of her hair fell into her eyes and he brushed it away, leaning forward to place a chaste kiss on her forehead.

"Goku," she sighed.

Gohan closed his eyes tightly and stood from his kneeling position, turning to walk away, but her next words made him pause before he left her room with a smile on his face.

"Go…han."

* * *

"Can you hand me that soldering gun?" Bulma asked, reaching a hand out from underneath the time machine, where she was currently laying.

Gohan grabbed the tool and handed it carefully to her, "do you need me to hold that while you fix it?"

"Yea actually that would be great, thank you," she answered, sliding over so that there was space underneath for both of them to fit.

Gohan put on a mask and climbed underneath the machine next to her, trying to give her enough room to keep working. They stayed like that for the few minutes it took to finish the job and then she laid the gun down and took off her mask, falling back to the floor.

"I feel like this is never going to be finished," she sighed softly.

Gohan, who had also removed his mask, turned his head to look at her. "Don't give up hope, Bulma. You'll figure it out."

His soft encouraging voice calmed her nerves and she sighed then turned her head to look at him. There wasn't much room under the machine so they were shoulder to shoulder, backs against the floor, noses almost touching. Her breath caught in her throat when he smiled at her.

"Gohan," she whispered.

"Yes, Bulma."

"I…I-"

"MOM! Where are you?!" Trunks' voice echoed through the halls.

It made her jump, startled, and scoot out from under the machine to go find him. Gohan sighed, and got out from under the machine as well.

* * *

It had been months since he had first told her how he felt about her, close to almost a full year, and as hard as she had tried not to she was actually beginning to develop feelings for him. She wondered if she would have still felt this way if he hadn't told her, but deep down she knew it would have happened eventually.

It was fate's cruel way of laughing in her face, making her feel something for the son of the only man she had ever loved. The one who looked exactly like him, but was in so many ways not like him at all. Gohan had a hardened mentality that had come from growing up in the middle of the war with the androids and seeing all their friends killed. The look in his eyes any time he went out to fight them, it was dangerous. It reminded her of the look she had seen in Vegeta's eyes far too often.

She laughed to herself at that thought, that Gohan was a mix of Goku and Vegeta. He was warm and kind, but he was oh so dangerous when he had to be. It was exhilarating, the way he'd been looking at her lately, she was loathe to admit. He was like a big cat stalking his prey, one that was tired of hiding in the shadows and was ready to pounce.

She jumped, startled out of her thoughts, when his hand landed softly on her shoulder. She closed the book she had been trying to read for the better part of the last hour and curled her legs up onto the couch, looking over her shoulder to see him smiling down at her.

"Hey," he greeted softly.

"Hi."

"Whatcha reading?" He moved around and walked to the window across from the couch and looked up at the sky before turning around to face her.

"Oh, nothing important. Honestly I was just sitting here thinking," she responded, setting the book on the coffee table in front of her.

"About?" His voice was soft and quiet, as if to not disturb the sleeping Trunks whose room was just down the hall.

"Things, life….the future," she looked down at her hands and started fidgeting with her nails.

She missed the way he smiled at her before turning around to look out the window again, "do you wanna go do something?"

She looked up to see him staring up at the sky. "Do something? What do you mean?"

He turned back around and gave her a breath taking smile, "I have somewhere I wanna show you."

"Show me? We can't just leave Trunks here, what if the androids attacked?" She looked at him incredulously.

"I can't sense them, and they aren't shy about hiding their presence. Trunks is out like a light, it's almost midnight, he won't be waking up anytime soon. We'll be back before you know it," he walked over to her and held out a hand.

She looked at it, then back up at him before reaching out and allowing him to help her up. "Where are we going?"

He opened the sliding glass door that led out to the lawn, moving aside so that she could walk past him. It had rained earlier that day and the grass smelt fresh and sweet, and he smiled gently as he watched her breathe it in with her eyes closed.

"It's a place that I found right after my dad died."

"Oh, well let me grab the keys," she turned back towards the house.

As soon as she had turned her back Gohan had swept her up off her feet and into his arms, "we won't need the car."

"We're flying?!" She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body closer to him.

He pulled her closer into him and before she knew it they were high above the ground and soaring through the sky.

"Just relax," he whispered into her ear, noticing that she was obviously terrified. He'd assumed that his dad had taken her flying at least once in all their adventures, but judging by the way she was acting he began to think that maybe he'd been wrong.

After a few minutes however, her hold on him loosened up, and she brought her head out from under his chin to look down at the world passing by below them. She realized that she felt comfortable, out in the open so high up, she felt safe and untouchable.

After they flew for about twenty minutes, they touched down on the side of a mountain and he gently set her down. She walked out to the ledge and looked down over the valley that was below. It was a beautiful, untouched and pure, oasis.

"Gohan, it's breathtaking."

He stayed a few steps behind her, watching as she took in the scenery. "It's where I come when I need to think, I spent a lot of time here right after he passed. It's calming, and no one has discovered it yet, I think that's what I like the most about it."

She turned around to look at him and smiled, "some things are meant to stay pure and untouched by mankind. I hope that no one ever finds this place, so something good can come out of all the bad."

He walked towards her slowly, pleased that she didn't step back or look nervous. "Good can still come out of the bad, Bulma."

He stopped in front of her and reached a hand up to brush her hair away from her face, pausing for just a moment when she sucked in a breath and her eyes fluttered closed. He wanted to kiss her but he knew she still wasn't ready. He moved his hand down to take a hold of hers, and spun her back around towards the view, pulling her back to his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her there, taking in the view with her.

She didn't protest once.

* * *

Bulma bit her nails as she tried to concentrate on her work in front of her. He'd been gone for two weeks. He'd left to go visit Chi Chi and had never returned. The first few days weren't surprising, after all he hadn't seen his mother in ages. But the days turned into a week, then two, and then she was worried and stressed and upset.

All communication lines had long ago been destroyed, so it wasn't as if they could pick up a phone and call Chi Chi. Trunks had wanted to go out and try and find him, to see if he was still up in the mountains or if something worse had happened, but Bulma wouldn't let him leave. He was starting to get antsy and she couldn't blame him, she was worried she'd go check on him and find that he had snuck out.

She had barely slept at all, hiding out in her lab while Trunks was sleeping. Making sure she was always close to the gravity machine to make sure he didn't try to sneak out. She was exhausted and she felt like she was going to break down at any given moment, but she had to keep going.

She spun around suddenly at the sound of her lab door opening, it was late at night and Trunks was sleeping, and her heart pounded against her chest at the possible thought that the androids had finally come to attack. Her chest tightened and it seemed like her heart stopped when she saw Gohan there, leaning against the doorway, half healed scrapes and bruises littering his arms and face.

They stood silent, staring at each other until Bulma took a step forward, tears gathering in her eyes. She opened her mouth to ask him what had happened and ask where he had been all this time, but she realized very suddenly that it didn't matter. He was home.

"Bulma," he said her name softly, but that was all it took.

She cried out his name as she ran towards him, jumping into his waiting arms and smashing her lips to his. He kissed her hungrily and picked her up, wrapping her legs around his waist.

"What happened to you?" She asked between kisses.

"It doesn't matter, I'm here now," he carried her out of the lab and up to her bedroom, careful not to wake Trunks.

For the rest of the night he relished in the sound of his name coming from her lips over and over again. She was finally his.

* * *

"Don't worry, mom. We're gonna be just fine!" Trunks assured her as he tightened the belt of his gi.

Bulma crushed him to her in a hug and frowned, "I'm not ready for you to go out there and face the androids. Just be careful and promise me you'll come back from training early if they make an appearance."

"Yea, yea, we can take them! Right, Gohan?" Trunks pumped a fist in the air as Gohan came into the room.

Gohan laughed and ruffled the boys hair, "today is just about training, Trunks. We're gonna try and stay out of trouble."

Bulma hugged her son again, "I love you. Be careful."

"Alright, alright! Love you too! Bye!" He yelled as he raced out the door.

Bulma turned to Gohan gave him a stern look, "take care of him, Gohan."

"I will, I promise," Gohan said.

She leaned up and wrapped her arms around his neck, "take care of yourself too. I don't want my boys coming home hurt."

He hugged her tight and gave her a soft kiss on the lips before turning to leave.

"Gohan?"

He paused and turned to look back at her, "yeah?"

"I love you," she said quickly, before spinning around and exiting the room.

He stood there in shock for a moment before a smile spread over his face. In the three weeks they'd been sharing the same bed, she'd never told him she loved him. He had half a mind to run after her, but he could hear Trunks yelling for him.

" _I love you too, Bulma. And as soon as we get back I plan on telling you every chance I get_ ," were his last thoughts as he took the sky.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** And fin! I was thinking of possibly doing one more part with two scenes, one where she dies and one where Gohan finds her. It would be super short. But I need reviews to tell me what you think, otherwise it's not happening.


	4. Stages

**Author's Note:** Ok so here's the last installment of this story. I decided to do one more after all. I did add another part to I'm Not Him and wrapped that up with a short but sweet second chapter. Perhaps thinking of a one shot from Goku's perspective in this timeline while he's in other world looking down on Gohan and Bulma.

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing

* * *

Confusion.

Gohan let out a yell as he sent another kamehameha wave towards Eighteen, who seemed to be playing with him and Trunks more than trying to fight them. She'd shown up and attacked them out of no where, but she wasn't attacking to hurt them. No, it was more like she was waiting for something.

Seventeen.

But the other android hadn't shown up to take them by surprise like Gohan thought would happen, in fact there was no sight of the other android at all, he couldn't sense his ki anywhere near them. He watched as Eighteen easily side stepped his attack, and then turned to grab Trunks who had tried to attack her from behind.

He had to make sure Trunks got out of this safely, he had promised Bulma that nothing would happen to him, that was a promise he intended to keep. So he rushed forward again to attack, but Eighteen let Trunks go at the last minute and phased out of site, appearing above them with her arms folded and a smirk on her face.

"I expected better entertainment from you now that there's two of you, can your little friend here change his hair color too?"

Trunks scowled up at the female android and let out a roar as he rushed towards her. But she just laughed at him as she dodged every one of his attacks. Gohan looked around for any sign of the other android while she played cat and mouse with Trunks up in the sky.

Suddenly she was right behind him, and when she spoke he could feel her breath on his ear, "curious isn't it? That my brother is missing from today's activities."

Gohan furrowed his brows and spun around, swinging at her and managing to land a fist into the side of her face. She flew back, grabbing at her cheek as she scowled at him, "we've been watching you, Gohan. We know what your weaknesses are."

Gohan clenched his teeth and looked over at Trunks who was holding his bloodied arm and sporting a bruised eye. His attention focused back on Eighteen when she laughed, "you stupid boys."

Gohan let out a frustrated growl and moved to attack her again but her next words made him freeze where stood.

"You've grown close to the boys mother, haven't you? The pretty blue haired scientist, the one you left all alone at Capsule Corporation."

Gohan felt like she had knocked the wind out of him as the realization of just where Seventeen was hit him. He heard Trunks start to panic, and it seemed like time had stopped as Eighteen turned and smirked at him. She said something, but he didn't hear her words as she took to the sky and flew off.

* * *

Bulma frowned and wrapped her arms around herself as she sat on the couch in the living room, staring out the window. It had been so quiet in the house since the boys had left, too quiet, and something just didn't feel right.

She had planned on holing herself up in the lab to work on the time machine, but the uneasy feeling she'd had all morning stopped her from going anywhere near that side of the compound. There was a nagging voice in the back of her head telling her to stay away from the time machine that day, so she'd stayed on the living side and far away from her workplace.

The voice also told her that she was being watched, and she had learned to trust her gut instinct over the years.

Fear.

For the first time in a long time, she felt afraid. The air around her seemed to grow cooler, and she felt a presence behind her suddenly. She stood quickly and spun around, coming face to face with Seventeen.

"My, my, you really are beautiful. It's a shame I have to kill you," he said in his monotone voice.

Bulma narrowed her eyes at him and took a step back, "then get it over with you evil monster!"

Seventeen looked at her for a long moment before walking towards her, "you are afraid of me but not afraid to die."

He didn't ask as much as made an observation, and she held her ground as he came closer. "Everyone dies, and if you kill me then Gohan will rip you apart."

He smirked and stopped his advancement, "oh no, killing you will bring about his demise. You are his biggest weakness, take you away and he will fall apart slowly, and we will end him. Then kill your menacing son afterwards."

She clenched her teeth and let out a low growl at the mention of Trunks, "keep your hands off of my son!"

Seventeen laughed, "don't worry, my sister wants to be the one to kill the kid. I'll just take great pleasure in ripping Gohan limb from limb."

Silence.

Seventeen was in front her before she could blink, whispering to her, "run."

"I won't give you the satisfaction," she grit out.

He smirked again, "very well then."

Her screams echoed the halls, and her blood painted the walls. It was anything but quick, and he made sure that she felt every last bit of it.

He couldn't wait to see the look on Gohan's face the next time they met in combat.

* * *

Gohan flew as fast as he could back to Capsule Corp. with Trunks trailing not far behind him. He felt as if there was an invisible hand clutching at his heart and squeezing softly, making his blood feel cold and icy in his veins. He silently pleaded to whatever God was left that he wasn't too late, that he would be able to save her from the clutches of death.

 _Please don't take her from me, not when she's just admitted her feelings, we haven't had enough time._

He touched down on the ground and ran inside, and promptly froze at the scene before him. He vaguely registered Trunks running in behind him, gasping for breath and then making small noises of disbelief.

There was blood, everywhere. It soaked the floor, it was splashed on the walls and all over the furniture. The smell of it was overwhelming and made Gohan choke as he searched with his eyes for a body.

Trunks stood frozen next to him and suddenly shouted out, "mom!"

Gohan watched as the boy ran further into the house, following the trail of blood down the hall and up the stairs. His feet felt heavy and he struggled to breathe, but he followed the trail of blood like Trunks had, and found himself led to Bulma's bedroom.

The room they had shared for the last three weeks.

He could hear Trunks sobbing uncontrollably inside the room, and he reached out to push the door open. The tears that had been gathering finally fell, as he rested his gaze upon her body.

She lay in her bed, and at first glance you'd have thought that she was just sleeping. Her beautiful face had been untouched and looked perfect, just like she had when they had left that morning. But as he walked closer he could see that it was the only part of her body that had been unmarked.

The bed was covered in blood, so much that it looked the sheets were meant to be red. If Seventeen hadn't left her face untouched, she would have been unrecognizable, just a pile of bloody meat.

Anger.

His blood boiled as he was filled with rage. He screamed, and Trunks followed with screams of his own. They screamed together in anguish, and Gohan wasn't even surprised as Trunks finally ascended to Super Saiyan in his rage.

After Trunks ascended, he fell by the bed and cried alongside what was left of his mother's body. He didn't notice as Gohan turned to leave again.

When Gohan returned hours later, bruised and bloodied, Trunks was still in the same spot just staring at Bulma's face. Gohan collapsed on the other side of the bed, moving to cradle her head in his arms, and he cried.

He felt lost, broken, and the worst thing about it was part of him was jealous. Jealous that she was now in other world, where he couldn't reach her, and where the only thing that could change the way she felt about him was.

His father.

* * *

Pain.

Indescribable, unfathomable, raw pain.

He felt like he was in a dream…well, more like a nightmare. Trunks had been the one to start trying to clean the mess Seventeen had made of Bulma's body, and all Gohan could do was lie there. Yes, lie there. He'd eventually moved up onto the bed and lain next to what was left of her body, continuing to cradle her head to his chest.

It was his own mother that finally snapped him out of it. He'd been aware of Trunks trying to get him to move, at first the boy had asked softly, but as the hours passed Trunks had grown upset and finally full on angry. He'd pushed and pulled and yelled but nothing had gotten through to Gohan.

More hours went by, and the arrival of Chi Chi had made him both angry and aware all at the same time. He'd spun his head around to see his mother's eyes staring back at him in horror, and it had been the first reaction he'd shown since collapsing at Bulma's side.

"Get out."

The words were like ice, and so unlike him, and it was her response that had finally gotten him to move.

"Gohan, I know you're upset, but so is Trunks. She was his mother, his mother, Gohan! He isn't even able to grieve properly with the way you're acting!"

She had been right, he was being selfish. He looked over her shoulder at the boy and felt sorrow, and finally stood from the bed to wrap Trunks in a hug, the words "I'm sorry" falling from his mouth over and over again.

Chi Chi had been the one to clean up the rest of the house, or at least what she could clean. She'd told the boys to pack their things because they'd be going back to Mt. Paozu with her, but both stubborn Saiyans had told her no. Trunks went outside and started digging up a grave for his mom, while Chi Chi had just stood staring at Gohan.

"So, she finally got you too huh?" Chi Chi asked, wringing her hands on the front of her dress.

Gohan stared at his mother and wanted to be angry with her, but he took her in his arms instead and whispered in her ear, "dad loved you, mom. Don't ever doubt that. What her and I have…had…was…different."

"Your father loved her too though he'd never admit it. She just had a way with the boys, I guess," she started crying into his chest and held onto him like he'd disappear if she let go.

Gohan's hold on her tightened and at the same time he pushed her back so that he could see her face. His thoughts flashed back to the conversation he had overheard at a party so many years ago, the one that had led him to believe there had been something between Bulma and his father once upon a time.

"She loved me back, mom. It's different," he let go of her and turned away, pausing to see Trunks standing in the doorway listening to them.

"We were kind of a weird little family, weren't we?" Trunks mumbled, looking down at the ground.

Gohan stared at him and saw so much of Bulma in him it hurt. He knew that there were stages of grief, but he didn't know how he was going to be able to move on and make it to acceptance while having to look at Trunks who had her eyes.

He imagined her coming up behind Trunks, hands on her hips asking everyone why they looked so glum.

Denial.

Anger.

And so…so much pain.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Please review


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